In Battleship each player secretly places a fleet of five ships on their own ocean grid, then you take turns calling one coordinate, such as F-4, to try to hit the other player's ships. The first player to sink the whole enemy fleet wins.
These rules come from Hasbro's instructions for Battleship Classic, product F4527, as of November 2026. The box says ages 7 and up, and it's a two-player game played across a table with the lids of your cases up so neither of you can see the other's ships.
What's in each battle case
Each player gets a battle case with two grids. The ocean grid is where your own ships sit. The target grid is where you record the shots you fire. Red pegs mark hits and green pegs mark misses, and each case has storage compartments for pegs and ships.
The first time you play, divide the 10 ships so both cases have one of each type, and share the red and green pegs equally between you.
| Ship | Holes (its length on the grid) |
|---|---|
| Carrier | 5 |
| Battleship | 4 |
| Destroyer | 3 |
| Submarine | 3 |
| Patrol boat | 2 |
The destroyer and submarine are the same size, which matters later: when an opponent tells you which ship you've hit, that's the only way to tell them apart.
Placing your ships
Both players place all five ships secretly on their ocean grids. Each ship has two pegs underneath that fit into holes on the grid. The rules sheet sets two placement rules:
- Each ship goes horizontally or vertically, never diagonally.
- No part of a ship can overlap the letters or numbers round the edge of the grid.
Here's the setup in order, as the rules sheet runs it:
- Sit facing each other with the lids of your battle cases raised, so neither of you can see the other's ocean grid.
- Check your case holds one carrier, one battleship, one destroyer, one submarine and one patrol boat, plus your share of red and green pegs in the storage compartments.
- Place your five ships secretly, fitting each ship's two pegs into two holes on your ocean grid.
- Check every ship runs horizontally or vertically and doesn't cover any letters or numbers.
- Decide who goes first.
Don't skip that last check. A ship sitting over the edge labels breaks the placement rules, and it's far easier to fix before the first shot than halfway through a game.
A turn, step by step
- Pick a square on your target grid and call it out by letter and number, for example D-4.
- If there's no ship on that square on your opponent's ocean grid, they say 'Miss'. You put a green peg in that hole on your target grid, so you won't call it again.
- If there is a ship there, it's a hit. Your opponent tells you which ship you've hit. You put a red peg on your target grid, and they put a red peg in the matching hole of the ship you hit.
- When every hole in a ship has a red peg, that ship is sunk, and its owner announces which ship it was.
- Then it's the other player's turn. You alternate, one shot per turn.
The sheet walks through this with two players, you and Alex. You call 'D-4' and Alex answers 'Hit. Destroyer.' You put a red peg at D-4 on your target grid, and Alex puts a red peg in the hole of his destroyer that sits over D-4. Then Alex calls 'F-4', you answer 'Miss', and Alex puts a green peg at F-4 on his target grid.
One catch worth knowing: misses only go on the shooter's target grid. The rules say it's not necessary to record your opponent's misses on your own ocean grid. Only hits go there, as red pegs in your ships.
You win when you've sunk all five of your opponent's ships before they sink yours.
The Salvo game
The sheet suggests Salvo for experienced players. All the normal rules apply except these:
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- You get as many shots on your turn as you have ships still afloat, so everyone starts with a salvo of five shots.
- You fire them one at a time, and your opponent says whether each is a hit or a miss. Mark them exactly as in the standard game.
- Each time one of your ships is sunk, you lose one shot from your salvo on your next turn.
- Keep calling salvos until someone wins.
Here's how that plays out. Say your patrol boat and destroyer have both been sunk. You've three ships afloat, so on your next turn you fire three shots, one at a time, hearing hit or miss after each before you call the next. Lose another ship and you're down to two.
For a harder Salvo game, the sheet suggests not announcing which ships are hit. That's a real change from the classic game, where naming the ship is the rule, so agree it before you start.
Tips for fewer wasted shots
These aren't in the rules; they're my own suggestions, and they're general advice rather than anything official. Because ships sit only horizontally or vertically and the smallest is 2 holes long, firing at every other square in a checkerboard pattern will eventually touch every ship. Once you get a hit, work outward along the row and the column from it, not diagonally. And use the ship name you're told: a hit on the carrier means there's a lot more of it to find nearby, a hit on the patrol boat means there's only one more square.
On placement, the same logic in reverse: ships bunched together let one lucky run of hits find several of them, so spreading them out is worth a thought.
My verdict
I'd start younger players on the classic game with ships named on every hit, because that one rule teaches them to think about ship sizes without anyone explaining it. I'd make sure they place a green peg on every miss, since it's the habit that stops repeated shots. I'd skip Salvo until both players can run a full game without help, and save the no-announcing version for when you want a longer, cagier match. If you've no box to hand, Battleship is one of the games in my pencil and paper games list, and for more head-to-head ideas there's my two-player board games roundup.
Frequently asked questions
How many ships are in Battleship?
Five per player: a carrier (5 holes), a battleship (4), a destroyer (3), a submarine (3) and a patrol boat (2).
Can ships be placed diagonally?
No. Each ship goes horizontally or vertically, and no part of it can overlap the letters or numbers round the grid.
What is Salvo?
A variation for experienced players where you fire as many shots on your turn as you have ships still afloat, losing a shot each time one of your ships is sunk.
How do you win?
Sink all five of your opponent's ships before they sink yours.
